Chapter 7 (Organisation)

Question 1

Organisation

Answer 1

-A group of two or more people working together to achieve a common set of goals
-Developing organization charts
1. Organization chart
A diagram that represents the positions and relationships within an organization
2. Chain of command
The line of authority that extends from the highest to the lowest levels of the organization
3. Staff (advisory) positions
Jobs that are not part of the direct chain of command in the organization

Question 2

Considerations when organising an organisations

Answer 2

1. Job design
   (1)Sell cars and (2)make cars. Should one person do both or should they specialise in one?
2. Departmentalisation
   Function/product/location/customer
   Delegation, decentralisation and centralisation
3. Decentralised (spread authority) and centralised (concentrate authority) organisation
4. Span of management

Question 3

Span of management

Answer 3

The number of workers who report directly to one manager
1. Wide span
The large number of subordinates to one manager
2. Narrow span
Only a few subordinates to one manager
Easier to communicate with management

Organisational height—number of layers, or levels, of management in a firm
1. Flat organisations
Have wider spans of management and fewer levels
Require managers to perform more administrative tasks and to spend more time supervising subordinates
2. Tall organisations
Have narrow spans of management and many levels
Have higher administrative costs (more managers)
May distort internal communications during the passage of the communications through the multiple levels of organization

Question 4

Forms of organisational structures

Answer 4

1. Line structure
2. Line-and-staff structure
3. Matrix structure
4. Network structure

Question 5

Line-structure

Answer 5

1. The chain of command goes directly from person to person throughout the organization
2. Simplicity allows for quick decision-making and direct accountability
3. Most suitable for small organisations with a lower volume of activities than medium or large organisations

Question 6

Line-and-staff structure

Answer 6

1. Utilises the chain of command from a line structure in combination with the assistance of staff managers
2. Suitable for medium and large-sized organisations
3. Staff managers provide support, advice and expertise to line managers
4. Staff managers are not part of the chain of command but do have authority over their assistants

Question 7

Matrix structure

Answer 7

1. A structure that combines vertical and horizontal lines of authority, usually by superimposing product departmentalisation on functional departmentalisation
2. Authority flows both down and across
3. Employees on cross-functional teams report to both the project manager in charge of the team and to their superiors in their home-base functional department